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Panel Discussion “Human Rights and Film”
9 December, 2023 @ 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
On 9 December 2023, the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (RWI) in partnership with SEA Junction will launch the inaugural Southeast Asia Human Rights Film Festival at the Auditorium on the 5th floor of the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC).
Since 2021, RWI has been giving the RWI Asia Pacific Awards to honour short films produced in Asia Pacific focusing on human rights, gender equality, and climate change as part of the International Minikino Film Week in Bali. Now, these awarded films are presented in Bangkok to raise awareness of the interconnectedness of human rights and development issues in the region.
Lasting the full day from 11:00 am to 6:30 pm, the festival showcases seven short films by directors from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, and Malaysia in three screening rounds. As detailed in the schedule and film synopses below, each screening round will be followed by a Q&A session with selected film directors. At 5:30-6:30 pm, following the last round of screening, a panel discussion will take place featuring Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, Director of the Cross Cultural Foundation, and Phil Robertson, Deputy Director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division. The discussion on Film and Human Rights, which will include all directors who are present, will serve as the closing event for the festival.
In addition to screenings and discussions, the festival will incorporate music performances by the Co-culture Ensemble, with connections to the human rights and democratic movement, during intervals between the screening programs.
Festival Schedule
11.00 am – 12.30 pm
- The Wedding Ring // Robin Narciso Cambodia / 2022 / Fiction / 12:56 // Leakhena, a pregnant woman, is fired in the midst of the pandemic. She will need to find a way to sustain her growing family.
- Under the Darkness // Mourng Vet Cambodia / 2021 / 18.50 // Mr. Kativ Saut is disable person since he was born. He lives in Krak Village, Samoki Commune, Ochum district, Ratanakiri province. Nowadays Mr. Kativ Saut always finds vegetables from his farm to sell at the market to earn money for survival and manage his child going to school. In Covid-19, it impacted his job, and he can’t earn much money like he did.
- Q&A session with Mourng Vet
2.30 pm – 4.00 pm
- Pha Hom (The Blanket) // Mitpasa SITTHIHAKPANYA / Laos / 2021 / Fiction / 18:17 // A seven-year-old boy from a rural Lao village becomes responsible for his younger siblings and mother when his father goes off to the city in search of work.
- The Partian // Hadafi Raihan Karim / Indonesia / 2021 / Fiction / 08:40 // On a planet where big vehicles and rocky mountains are a common view, a mysterious astronaut lands and discovers things that seem familiar.
- The Last Breath of the Tonle Sap // Thomas Cristofoletti, Robin Narciso / Cambodia / 2020 / Documentary / 10:21 // Piseth lives on the Tonle Sap Lake. Fish stocks have plummeted and he worries about how he is going to feed his family.
- Q&A session Thomas Cristofoletti and with Robin Narciso
4.30 – 6.30 pm
- Bagan (Sudden Uncertainty) // Firdaus Balam / Malaysia / 2021 / Fiction / 24:35 // Frankie lives at home with his grandma while his peers go off to school. When a government notice arrives one-day announcing land reform in his village, Frankie is unable to read it.
- Blue Poetry // Muhammad Heri Fadli Indonesia / 2023 / Fiction / 18:28 A fisherman works hard to support his family. One day he realizes that his environment has changed, including himself.
Panel Discussion on Human Rights and Film with Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, Phil Robertson, Firdaus Balam, Muhammad Heri Fadli, Thomas Cristofoletti, Robin Narciso and Mourng Vet.
For more information, please email: info@seajunction.org or phone/wa: +66970024140
NB: The event is free, but donations are welcome to support other SEA Junction activities.
Organizers
The Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (RWI) is an independent academic institution, founded in 1984 and affiliated with Lund University in Sweden. The vision of the Institute is just and inclusive societies with effective realisation of human rights for all. In light of this, the Institute contributes to strengthening structures, systems and mechanisms for the promotion and protection of human rights at all levels in society. RWI has since 1990 been implementing a wide range of human rights capacity development programmes for institutions in developing countries, mainly with the support of Swedish Development Cooperation (SIDA). For more information, please visit www.rwi.lu.se/www.rwi.or.id.
SEA Junction, established under the Thai non-profit organization Foundation for Southeast Asia Studies (ForSEA), aims to foster understanding and appreciation of Southeast Asia in all its socio-cultural dimensions, from arts and lifestyles to economy and development. Conveniently located at Room 408 of the Bangkok Arts and Culture Center or BACC (across MBK, BTS National Stadium), SEA Junction facilitates public access to knowledge resources and exchanges among students, practitioners and Southeast Asia lovers. For more information, see www.seajunction.org, join the Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/1693058870976440/ and follow us on Twitter and Instagram @seajunction.
